I do not own Bates Motel.
But, in some ways, I do own a Dylan. And I love him so much.
Yeah, Whatever
Tying Up Loose Elephants
They did sit him down.
Give him tea.
Earl Grey, perfectly steeped.
Poured into his favorite cup.
And sitting down, the three of them together at the table.
Like a family.
Two of whom who had just spontaneously eloped on a Seattle ferry at six in the afternoon the day . . .
"Let's go ahead and talk to him. If we wait, it'll just make it worse."
"Yeah, okay. I mean, he knows I was going to ask you anyway so it's not going to be entirely a surprise, right?"
"Right. Okay. Ready?"
"No."
"Me neither."
. . . before.
He took it pretty well.
All things considered.
Seeming to choose to be happy.
For his only daughter.
Who was no longer dying of CF.
Sitting across from him, eyes shining and happy.
What could he say, really? Dylan thought.
Hoped.
Hey, I ran off and got married, Norma. I mean, Mom.
Oh well, that's nice. I would have loved to have been there. But you didn't invite me. I'm only your mother, nobody to think about when you make important, life changing decisions. Just the slag who cooked your food and washed your clothes and wiped your butt and gave you life after your father, my brother, raped me. Nobody important enough to make contact with when you decide to throw your life away on another human being.
"It sounds lovely, it really does."
And he smiled, looking only a bit regretful that he had not been in attendance.
"We, uh, we realize it wasn't really binding without the proper documents," Dylan admitted somewhat sheepishly.
Emma took over and he relievedly let her.
"So we thought we could get dressed up and go to the court house and make it legal."
She paused, then reached out her hand to him.
"Will you come with us?"
Will Decody shot his daughter a slightly wry glance.
"Oh, am I invited to this one?"
She smiled gently.
"Dad . . ."
He patted her offered hand then.
"Of course I'll come, baby girl. I'd be honored to. I'm proud of you."
His gaze shifted to Dylan then.
"I'm proud of you both and that's the truth."
Emma half rose . . .
This is the way a family should be.
. . . and hugged her father.
"Thank you, Dad. I love you."
"I love you too, Emma."
Dylan, watched them with a small smile, very grateful to finally be a part of something truly good.
Which he did not deserve.
So, they went to the court house two days later and did the thing "right".
It didn't quite have the magic of the spontaneous ferry trip.
But Dylan didn't care.
She was beautiful and she was perfect and he loved her.
They said the words and signed the papers.
Had their kiss.
As Will looked on in seeming contentment and peacefulness.
And at some point, Dylan turned to his blushing bride and spoke.
"Hey, I think I'm really starting to get the hang of this. Where do you want to get married next week?"
And she laughed.
And that was beautiful too.
Life went on for the next six months.
Emma went to college classes and enjoyed breathing the air.
Dylan went to work and never got shot at once.
And Will guided sleep deprived college students through the swirly, high browed language of the Victorian . . .
"Now help me out here, ladies and gentlemen, what would one mean when saying "Bitch the pot."?"
"Professor!"
"So you mean to say it is below all of you to simply pour tea?"
"Professor?"
. . . era.
All in all, it was a wonderfully peaceful time of their lives.
And Dylan Massett was more than grateful for it.
He thought about the earring from time to time.
More than he would have liked to.
Wished Audrey Decody would call or write or email or even show up on their door out of the blue.
Raise all kinds of hell.
Upset Emma (just a little).
Turn Will into a seething cesspool of righteous British indignation.
Anything, just so he would know she was alive.
Alive and not dead, not killed by Norman.
A notification from a distant relative or long lost friend.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, love, but Audrey died. Squashed by an elephant in India. Terrible tragedy, that. Elephant was nigh inconsolable for days."
Hey, Norman not taken a trip to India recently, have you? No? Awesome, thanks, bro . . . what? No, I don't want to hear about Norma. Okay, thanks, man. Peace.
Anything at all.
But there never was a word murmured, a hint, a clue.
There was nothing.
And so he carried it inside him, the guilt, the abiding fear.
Tried to ignore it.
Because life in Seattle was good, great in fact.
And he wasn't about to screw it up and lose Emma now.
Not for anything in the world.
So finishing up this little story arc here. Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks to WordWeaver81 for so graciously reviewing!